One Thousand and Counting
by Ergoemos
Summary: What if it wasn't a simple act of homework that released the Brigade from their endless summer vacation? What if the end didn't come as years faded into decades into centuries? How does one cope with the growing weight of time?
1. Chapter 1

_Author's notes: I have found that there is little consistency in the actual length in the Endless Eight. Kyon states multiple times that it lasts two weeks, and the math reflects that. However, he also states that the first day is August 17 and the last is August 31st, which is fifteen days. For my math to be consistent, I will be assuming that the first day is August 15th, and it ends on August 31st. If anyone knows better, feel free to mention it. Enjoy!_

_Warning: Later in the story there will be Trigger Warnings for certain chapters. _

* * *

Chapter 1: Twenty-Six Thousand Seventy-Two

As the last day of summer progressed, the feeling of pain gnawing at my stomach grew, like miniature Von Neumann machines given no restrictions. The afternoon came and went, as I reviewed this morning.

The group had gathered together at the same cafe we had gathered at for centuries. I watched as Haruhi walked out of the cafe, forlornly begging my legs to work, demanding my brain to think of something, anything to keep this cycle from continuing.

Something tickled at the back of my mind. I considered my summertime homework, and was about to shout at our prison keeper, demanding that she help me finish, but... something about the idea seemed futile. Déjà vu again, and I stayed seated. It was useless. It wasn't that I couldn't stop Haruhi. It was that I couldn't keep her going. She was intent on running through the same fourteen days. I just couldn't sense anything that could be done.

As I stared miserably at my empty glass of milk, Koizumi's smile drifted towards his phone as he worked the keys. Asahina-san was slumped, her head resting on her crossed arms, which they themselves rested on the table. Eventually, the impetus to stay was eroded, and I stood, biding everyone farewell.

I went home, where I find myself now, miserable and restless in my bed. My annoying little sister cheerfully proclaimed dinner in fifteen minutes. I suddenly found the prospect of eating my last meal with my family pointless and distasteful.

I found my phone in my hand and I searched through the contacts. The name stopped on the name of the last person member of the club. I stared at the name for a long time. Nagato Yuki hadn't said anything that last meeting with the group. She simply stared at the wall opposite. Utterly composed and stoic, I wondered if I had imagined the deep depression I had sensed earlier that week.

Not entirely of my own volition, I pressed the Call button. Resolved that what's done was done, I held the phone to my ear and listened to the ringing. It rang again and again. I wondered if Yuki was out, and wondered where she might go. I was about to hang up, when I heard someone pick up.

The soft sound of breathing came from the phone, and I, suddenly nervous, said, "Hey, Nagato. Its, ah, me."

There was a pause. A long pause. I was suddenly stricken with the idea that this was a mistake, and I had been about to stammer an apology when she finally said, "I know."

Not sure what was going on, I said, "Well, I had just been wondering if you wanted to go get food or something. To celebrate or, err, mourn really our, uh... you know this was a dumb idea. I'm sorry. I'll, uh, see you to-" I cut myself off from saying anymore. I don't even know what I was doing.

Ostensibly, I suppose I thought I was trying to reach out to someone who might understand the pain in my gut, though I now realized how utterly stupid the idea was. Nagato had been through so much worse than I had. She remembered everything. Trying to compare our suffering was like trying to steer Jupter's orbit with the mass of a walnut.

Just as I said, "I'll see you," she spoke, "Let's go."

More time passed as I stared in stunned silence, "What?"

More time has passed in silence between us than had words, but she finally repeated. "Let's go. Meet me here."

I nodded, before forgetting that she couldn't see me, adding, "Alright. Be there in a few minutes."

I spared a few moments to apologize to my family for skipping out suddenly, though I hardly doubted it would matter if they were angry at me tonight. Come tomorrow, it wouldn't mean a thing.

I jumped on my bike and headed to Nagato's apartment.

She was waiting for me there when pedaled my way up to her apartment building. She was wearing the same school outfit she always did, waiting for the first day of classes that would never come.

I would have said there was absolutely nothing notable about her current expression, but her eyes were wide and watched me as I approached, glinting in the light. I wondered if that was something to do with her alien nature, or if I was just reading into it too much.

I came to a stop before her, and we stared at each other. I at her in curiosity and concern, and her at me in inscrutable focus.

After a few moments, I finally asked, "So… what do you want to eat?"

She shook her head minutely, which I took to meaning that she didn't have any preference.

I waited a moment before asking, "Is there anything good around here?"

She didn't respond this time, just watching me, as if trying to figure me out.

This was even more awkward than the first time we had ever been in the club room together. Finally, I said, "I think I saw a fast food place back the way I came. Would that be okay?"

I didn't make the suggestion because I was broke or anything, though my savings did take a beating from the week's penalties. Trying to get Yuki to express something as simple as a suggestion was like trying to find the Higgs Boson with only a few rocks to pound together.

"That's fine," she finally said, after much deep thought. I got down off my bike and we began to walk back towards the restaurant I passed.

After locking my bike up to the stand beside the door, I took my place in line after Yuki. She stared up at the menu as if it were the proof to the Van der Waerden theorem. I wondered if she had ever been here before, given its relative location to her apartment.

Yuki gave another minute head shake, "No, I have not."

She reached the front of the line and stated her order, a number one combo, with nothing extra.

Before the alien could pull out her wallet, I said, "No, I got this."

"No, it's fine," she rebutted, still reaching for her money.

I put my hand on her shoulder. "No, really. I want to get this. It's the least I could do after all you have done." I hadn't been able to buy her the mask from the Bon Dance festival and, as scary as it sounds, I probably failed to do that thousands of times by now.

I was a little worried about having gone too far by touching her. She went unnaturally still as I did. The cashier still had his management-enforced smile on, though he did look a little concerned.

After a few endless moments, she acquiesced, "Alright," and put her wallet away.

I made my order, feeling courageous by ordering this season's bizarre milkshake flavor, and took our number. Yuki waited for me to pick a spot and I went for a relatively isolated corner, so we could talk. Or so that I could talk to her, at least. I was a little unsure if the exchange was going to be equal.

We sat quietly while our order was being worked. I tried not to stare at her, glancing around the room, studying the receipt, and looking out the front window to see if my bike was untouched.

Yuki simply stared at me without saying a word.

Finally, my eyes fell back to her, and I asked, "Have you been here before?"

She shook her head, eyes closed and hair bobbing in the blissfully air-conditioned room.

I nodded, "Not a fan of fast food?"

She hesitated, "I have never tried it."

I was a little amazed at that, asking, "Not even after all this time? You don't… try something new in each iteration, just in case?" I couldn't seriously believe that she didn't try to do anything new during these past fifty thousand weeks.

Surprisingly, she wasn't quite as emotionless as I was expected. "My purpose is to observe." The faintest hint of annoyance was in her voice. This must have been her equivalence to howling furious rage.

I nodded, about to reply, when our number was called. I stood up to get our food, and returned in quick order.

Yuki stared at the food I put in front of her. I took a sip of my milkshake and regretted my adventurism. Cucumber and rasberries were surely components to Mary Shelly's monster.

Finally, I continued, "I was trying to think of something new. I almost suggested we do our summer homework before classes start. I probably should have tried, huh?"

Yuki meticulously unwrapped her burger, saying tonelessly, "Completing summer homework has been attempted four thousand, three hundred fifty-two times."

I winced, chewing on a fry before prompting, "I hate to ask, but what else have we tried in desperation?"

Yuki, as graceful as any emperor's daughter, placed her napkin, drink and food in order, before answering. "Declaring another search for non-human life forms in the city has been tried six hundred, seventy-seven times. You have declared your romantic interest in Haruhi Suzumiya seventy-nine times. Itsuki Koizumi has declared his interest fifty times. Mikuru Asahina has declared her interest in Haruhi Suzumiya seven times. You have explained to her that you were "John Smith" to her one hundred, four times. You have had everyone at the table explain what they were to her thirty times. Itsuki Koizumi has attempted to tell stories to her in the style of Shahrazad seven times. You have burst into anger and called her various derogatory terms for her childish behavior two times. "

I sat in dumb silence while she exposited all the ideas I had, and several I hadn't. Finally, as she began to eat, all I could say was, "I am surprised it has only been two times."

We ate in silence for a while, before I finally asked, "Are you going to be okay, Nagato?"

She masticated with a single minded dedication, staring at the condensation slowly running down my infernal milkshake. I continued eating while she spent time actually thinking about my question. I must have phrased it better than I had on the first day of this iteration.

She finally said, "Continued time in this endless loop is not conducive to my long term efficacy. However, as long as we are restricted by this incessant time loop, I am unable to restore equilibrium as errors continue to build up in my cache data." She stared, almost glared, at her fries as she slowly demolished them.

After a moment's hesitation, "Is there something I can do to help?"

She unhesitatingly replied, "You are doing it." She didn't look at me as she spoke. I could hear a softer edge in her voice as she answered, but her eyes were just as sharp as before.

"I… alright." I didn't want to ruin whatever I could be doing by asking, as if by observation alone it would escape as quickly as Heisenberg's electrons.

We finished our food and sat quietly for a moment. I finally broke the silence. "So, what now?"

Yuki stared at me like I was asking my home room class teacher how to tie my shoes again.

I grimaced, and tried again, "I mean, what now? If we were going back in time, we would be older than the Kamakura period of Japan. Do you have any ideas to break us out of this nightmare?"

She shook her head, looking glum.

I persisted, "Could you try to tell us earlier in the week? Maybe we could solve it if we had more time."

She spoke in a more depressed and listless, though still relatively flat, voice, "My purpose is to observe."

I nodded slowly. Gathering all the trash we had back onto our tray, we cleaned up after ourselves and walked back towards her apartment without words.

We stopped just outside her building's lobby door and she turned to face me.

We stood staring at each other for a little time, before I finally asked. "How many times have I had this conversation before?"

She, with almost the slightest bit of awe, said, "Never before has this event occurred."

I nodded, contemplating that. "Well, when… I mean, if we repeat the cycle again, whether it helps you or not, I wouldn't mind coming out to meet you in another cycle."

Yuki stood stoically for a moment, before saying, almost inaudibly, "Me too."

There wasn't much else to say, so I nodded to her, "Alright. May the next thousand years of summer never come. Good night, Yuki."

I rode off back towards my house. I am pretty certain that Yuki Nagato watched me until I was out of sight.

By the time I got home, I was exhausted, and went straight to bed.

* * *

It was the morning of August eighteenth. I have the strangest feeling of having forgotten something extremely important and also the strongest sense of déjà vu. Without even thinking about it, I pulled my swim trunks and a towel out and put them on my desk. I had a feeling I would need them later.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

I lay on my bed perpendicular to wall, on my stomach. My head and front arms were hanging over the edge, extended towards the floor and looking down at my phone, respectively. I stared at the dark screen like I was expecting a call. I wasn't. I didn't have that same strange sense of Déjà vu I had just two weeks ago. Two weeks ago for the last one thousand fifty-seven years. The years themselves were becoming cumbersome to think. I'd have to start just thinking in Arabic numerals again.

We were living in an endless summer that only four people could remember, and three of them were only vaguely aware. I just spent the afternoon in what must have been the worst way possible of all the times in all of history. That Haruhi. I swear, one of these times I am just going to snap, and pull a Shining.

So now, I lay in bed and wait for the world to be renewed. Of course, we had family dinner to get through first. My little sister had poked her head inside my room a few minutes ago, to tell me that dinner would be ready soon.

Not able to stand the idea of watching the world repeat while pretending to enjoy dinner with my family, I grabbed the phone at the floor, and dialed a number impulsively.

It rang a couple times, then there was the soft sound of breathing on the other side. "Nagato? Its, uh, me."

She answered almost immediately, "I know."

I laughed, "Ha, I guess it would be a surprise if you didn't. I mean, you already know everything, and you probably have caller I.D. or something…" I trailed off, realizing that I was rambling. I took a moment to gather my thoughts, "Well, I mean, what I called you for was… Well, I was going to go out to get something to eat and I was wondering if you would join me."

She hesitated for a moment, then said, "Sure. Meet me at my apartment."

I nodded, then realized she couldn't possibly see me, adding, "I'll see you in a few."

I closed my phone and shook my head. What was I doing? Had I lost my mind?

Well, not really. I could see Nagato had been suffering all this week. She looked more than just bored. She looked hopelessly, utterly bored. I felt sorry for her, even more than I had for myself. I just realized that she was probably dying for something interesting to happen. Maybe she would derive comfort from the idea that someone was with her on the last day.

It didn't take long for me to ride my bike to her place. I saw her waiting outside her apartment, dressed in the school uniform, basically Plato's archetype for the poor girl slash humanoid interface. She was more than just an alien trying to fit in with humans. She had spent more time among humans than most castles now.

As I pedal closer to her, I get that feeling. That feeling that makes my stomach turn and my eyes burn. Yes. It was déjà vu again.

I break to a stop before the dark haired girl. I asked her, hoping I didn't sound as forlorn as I felt, "I have done this before, haven't I?"

She had the strangest look on her face, as if she wasn't sure she wanted to sympathize or be amused. Or maybe she just didn't know the etiquette used to break the news to a friend that they had two-week long anterograde amnesia.

Either way, she was definitely becoming more expressive. I don't have to remember the last thousand years to know that Yuki was no longer quite the same person she was three weeks ago, in non-Bizarro time.

She finally answered, "It's fine. I don't mind."

Something in her voice, or maybe I just wanted to imagine it, made it seem like she was being sincere. I relaxed, glad she wasn't bored yet, and hopped off my bike. Decidedly, I secured it to the rack outside her apartment. I'd be walking her back after dinner anyway.

"So… where do you want to go?"

She stared out into the city, "Anywhere is fine."

I nodded, thinking. "You know, I saw a fast food place just on the way up here. Have you ever…" I stopped myself, realizing what I was saying. It didn't take half-memories of the past to realize that I had probably made the suggestion before. It was my first instinct. Surely even, the mediocre student that I was, could think outside the box.

"You know what, I don't even want to guess how many times I have treated you to dinner at some greasy chain." She turned herself from the city to look at me, "Why don't we walk the opposite direction and see what there is."

She nodded, "Okay."

So we walked away from her apartment and my bike, heading towards where I vaguely remember a grocery store. There had to be something to eat near there.

We walked in silence for a good while, as we watched the glowing sign of a convenience store come closer. Finally, I broke the silence, "So… whatcha reading now?"

And then, something struck me, so terrifying that I had to freeze midstep and grab Yuki by the arms. I turned her towards me, where she looked vaguely dumbstruck, as I nearly shouted at her, "You haven't been reading the same book this whole time have you!?"

There it was again, the glimmer of something more than just initiation. The real glimmer of outright personality. Not that I much appreciated it. Yuki looked like she was about to smile, which pretty much means falling over in raucous laughter for anyone else. She shook her head, "No. You stopped me from doing that during the sixteen-thousand four hundred and thirty seventh cycle. "

Despite my relatively not humored feeling that she had been laughing at me, I was relieved. "Whew." I wiped the sweat off that had accumulated on my brow during this hot and humid evening. I wish my damn past-self had caught her sooner, but for now, she was at least not reading the same things over and over again.

We continued walking, and I asked her, "So, what are you reading now?"

Yuki walked beside me, "Reference section."

I nodded, knowing that would probably even slow Yuki down. "What's next on your reading list?"

With an inscrutable look that spoke of a riddle that would befuddle even the Sphinx, she said simply, "Romance section."

I tripped over my own feet, turning to stare at her straight on. Yuki Nagato, face deep in the confines of a romance novel, voraciously reading the contents of a book not meant for our young eyes? The idea was just so…

Come on, Nagato, are you just messing with me? She stared at me expressionlessly, pausing so that she didn't get ahead. Was that your attempt at humor? What exactly did you pick up from when reading the Comedy section at the library?

"Comedy is primarily a mimetic function wherein the expected is supplanted with the unexpected, without any intention to scare the target of the joke."

"Are you still messing with me?"

She looked past me down the street and pointed.

I looked back with her. "A curry shop? Is that what you would like to get?" I was pretty certain that the humanoid interface was doing this on purpose, but like a master magician, her best trick was misdirection.

She nodded minutely. I put my hand to my face and sighed, "Alright." We went to dinner, and I still had no idea if or what Yuki had been joking about.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

We all stepped out of the café, after I paid, of course, and headed our separate ways. I was at the back, and Nagato trailed behind, walking her usual slow pace when she wasn't accompanied by anyone.

She had seemed so... bored. It had been noticeable at the pool, but my impression of its extent grew with every passing minute. Now she was walking off to be by herself, and I couldn't keep myself from thinking how sad it would be to let her go on without a word.

Of course, I had no idea how I got onto this train of thought. Nagato didn't seem her usual, well, not perky self, but she didn't even seem like her usual stoic self either.

"Hey, Yuki…" I trailed off, not sure where to begin. "Is everything okay with you?"

She stopped and turned halfway to face me, but simply stared down the street past me. She answered robotically, "I'm fine."

Every muscle and bone in my body screamed at me to leave. Really, could anything actually faze the immutable Yuki Nagato? What could be wrong that she would be bother by it? "Ah, okay, never mind, I just…" I trailed off, as my mind turned on that last question. What would cause Nagato, who usually casts as much of an emotional pall as a light post, to look so depressed at the pool earlier?

I knew I hadn't imagined it. Her face, eyes half closed and eyes downcast, not even having the energy to watch the kids at the pool enjoy themselves. I gripped the handles of my bike a little harder, and forced myself to dig deeper, "Are you sure? It seems like something is bothering you."

Her eyes flicked to me, before her body turned to face me directly. The motion was fluid, instantaneous, disconcerting. Even if I had doubted she was an alien before she grabbed a knife intended for my heart, I wouldn't doubt her now. It was like she forgot how to act human for a moment. Seeing how deliberate her usual attitude was, the closest comparison I could make to how odd it was to see would be like watching Asahina suddenly assume the role of a military general, issuing orders and shouting commands at Japanese militia defending the country from invasion.

I was frozen, half in fear and half in awe. Nothing she could say would startle me more, as she opened her mouth to speak, "We are currently experiencing an endless time loop that begins on August Eighteenth and ends on August Thirty-First."

I furrowed my brow, asking, "What? I don't remem-"

She interrupted me, "Currently, only those linked to the Integrated Data Thought Entity are the only ones fully aware of the universal constraints."

I took a moment before stammering, still a little dazed by her directness, "Well, how long-"

She interrupted me again, "We are currently on the twenty-eight thousand, nine hundred ninty-ninth cycle."

I was wrong before. There was something that could startle me more than Yuki's actions.

While she stared at me, intently cold and analytical, my mind slipped into doing the math. Twenty-eight thousand, nine hundred ninty-nine times fourteen days, divided by three hundred sixty-five days. Yuki didn't seem to mind the wait, while I slowly realized that it had been one thousand, one hundred twelve years.

"Are you saying that we have been doing the same thing-" Yuki shook her head, appearing to relax a little. Maybe she had been dying to tell someone, and just needed a firm nudge. I relaxed a little too. Going through summer that many times, doing the exact same thing all the time would be insanely hard to believe.

"No, we haven't. Iteration twenty-one thousand and eleven was not started with a visit to the public pool, likewise, there have been seven iterations without the Bon festival. There were three thousand fifteen iterations where Mikuru Asahina did not suggest goldfish scooping. There have been five thousand one hundred thirty-three times without instances of part-time jobs, and our tasks during the job has had seven different variations. We have handed out balloons, stocked shelves, cashiered, cleaned-"

I put my hand on her shoulder, saying more forcefully than I intended, "Stop. Please stop." A little more softly, I said, "I need a moment to process all of this." I stood there and thought for a little while as the small girl stared up at me, eyes brighter than I have ever seen before. What was this? Was she… eager? Happy to tell someone of this plight? You know, Nagato, you don't have to keep all your problems to yourself.

She nodded, still watching me.

It didn't seem fair that I had to deal with nonsense like this. I rubbed my eyes, while I asked, "Who is the-"

Yuki was still in an interruptive mood, and said, "Currently all data implies that Haruhi Suzumiya is the sole origin of this time loop."

I frowned, "Why haven't you-"

Nagato cut me short, this time sounding nearly frustrated, "It is my duty to observe. My direct interference is not permitted."

I sighed, exasperated. I kept my eyes closed and thought for a moment. "We need to call Koizumi and Asahina." Nagato nodded.

I pulled out my phone and scrolled through the contacts. I called Koizumi first, who answered cheerfully, "Itsuki Koizumi here, How may I help?"

"We have a problem," I stated seriously, trying to knock his cheer down to manageable levels. It wasn't the time for jokes.

He didn't hesitate, "What kind of problem, may I ask?"

"The kind where we need get together and discuss it. Do you think you could meet me at the park just down from the cafe? I'm going to call Miss Asahina next."

"Sure. May I presume that I will not need to call Miss Nagato?"

I shook my head, "Yuki is with me."

Koizumi sounded a little surprised, "Well. Then I will meet you there in a few minutes."

Next, I looked at my phone, figuring it had been almost ten minutes. By now, Asahina and Haruhi should have separated to go their own ways. I dialed Asahina's number. It rang for a bit.

"Hello?" Asahina's voice came out over the speaker, as if unsure she pressed the right button.

"Hey, Miss Asahina? It's me." I was a little nervous, but pressing matters overrode my usual caution with the beautiful Asahina.

"Hi, Kyon! Can I help you with something?"

I hedged a bit, "Well. Probably. Are you free at the moment? I'd like to talk with you, and the others, in private."

She hesitated, "Um, sure, Kyon, where do you want to meet?"

"At that park you, um, took me to at the end of last semester. You know… 'back then'?"

I could just imagine Miss Asahina blushing, as she replied, "Oh, that park? Um, sure, Kyon, I can do that. See you in a bit."

"Thanks. See you." I hung up, and looked to Nagato, who watched with icily attentive eyes.

"Well, let's go wait for them."

Nagato nodded slightly, and we headed to the park and waited.

By chance the two of them arrived at the same time, from opposite directions. We watched them approach, Koizumi with a friendly wave and Asahina with a brilliant smile. I stood and they stopped, facing me, Koizumi with his trademark grin and Asahina with a shy but curious look on her face.

"We have a problem."

Koizumi interjected first, "You said that on the phone earlier, but you didn't seem willing to elaborate."

Asahina looked confused, "You never said that there was a problem…"

While we waited for the other two to arrive, I had talked to Nagato about the problem a little. "Well, it concerns all of us. Have either of you been dealing with momentary déjà vu and headaches along with them?"

The pair looked at each other, then back to me, almost comically. Koizumi spoke first, "Now that you mention it, I have. Is that why you brought us here?"

"Partially. Miss Asahina, have you been feeling the same?"

She nodded hesitantly, "I don't know what it was. I sent a message back to my superiors, but I haven't gotten a response yet…" She looked concerned, "I only sent it an hour ago, but they usually don't take this long to respond."

I nodded, "I was afraid of that. I don't… think you are going to get a response."

She jumped at that, "What? How do you know? Why wouldn't I get a response?"

I sighed. "Because we aren't in normal space-time… Um. Yuki can explain it better."

All three of us looked at Yuki, who was sitting at the bench beside me, watching the traffic go past in the distance. She looked up at me first, then to the other two. "We are no longer coupled to normal space-time. We have been repeating the same two weeks for twenty-eight thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine times, starting from August eighteenth at twelve o'clock midnight to August thirty-first, at eleven fifty-nine."

I watched their faces, Koizumi's smile faltered a little. I wonder what it would take to stop his mad grin in its tracks. Asahina had a look of concentration on her face, as if she were trying to process the information.

She finally spoke up, "But, if that were true, then…"

"Then… what?" I asked, prompted her.

She shook her head. "No, it's nothing. Would you mind giving me a moment? I need to check something."

She stepped away and took a seat not too far away on the ledge separating the path from the park's foliage.

Koizumi looked at me, "How sure are you of this?"

"Very sure."

"I mean, is there any chance that you could be mistaken? Do you have any verifiable proof?"

I raised my eyebrows, motioning to Nagato, "Is Yuki's word not good enough?"

He chuckled, "Well, when you put it that way… I just find it hard to believe that we have spent more than a thousand years repeating the same summer vacation each time, that's all that I am saying."

Nagato spoke up, "Each iteration was unique and there are a notable number of instances that deviate in a major fashion. Iteration twenty-one thousand and eleven was not started with a visit to the public pool, likewise, there have been seven iterations without the Bon festival. There were twelve hundred fifteen iterations where Mikuru Asahina did not suggest goldfish scooping. There have been five thousand one hundred thirty three times without instances of part-time jobs, and our tasks during the job has had seven different-"

Koizumi interrupted, "Thank you, Miss Nagato. I will take your word for all of this."

I didn't have any room to talk, but I was a little annoyed that he would interrupt her like that. Maybe I was just unnerved that we both happened to stop her around the same time.

"Well, do you see what-" A second interruption occurred, this time while I spoke.

"Whaaaaaa!?" Asahina nearly shouted as she jumped to her feet, her face contorted into alarm, no make that outright panic. "You guys, I… I… I can't contact the future!" Tears welled up and she stumbled towards us.

Her eyes already running with tears, she wailed a little more, before tripping at the last moment, catching onto my arm and sobbing. I was yanked a bit, but kept us both upright. She gripped onto my arm like a sailor overboard, gripping the last lifeboat. Suffice it to say, this was very distracting.

Both Koizumi and I spent the next few moments looking around to see who might be nearby. As the sun had set by now, there wasn't anyone at the park.

"What- what- whaaaahaaaaa!" Mikuru seemed to be desperately finding words, but she seemed unable to stop crying. My arm was going numb.

"Miss Asahina, please calm down. We will figure this out. Why don't you take a seat?" I gently nudged her towards the bench near Nagato, and she finally got the hint, taking a seat next to the other girl. She did not, however, release my arm, so I stood there, awkwardly, while my arm was used as a poor handkerchief substitute.

Koizumi had more questions to ask, "May I infer that the person responsible for this is the only member of the SOS Brigade not here currently?"

"You may." Nagato responded immediately, cutting off my sarcastic reply.

Koizumi nodded philosophically, "Because we have spent so much time repeating the same events, we, as in the three of us excluding Miss Nagato, have been experiencing increasingly severe déjà vu. This has culminated in Kyon investigating the issue. May I assume he learned the truth of the event from you, Miss Nagato?"

Nagato nodded, "You may."

Koizumi nodded, still thinking. "I am not feeling any particularly sharp feelings of déjà vu right now. I wonder why that is."

Nagato was quiet for a moment, before inserting, "Discovery of the time-plane disruption was not an event that occurred until the one thousand and fifteenth iteration. Since then it has become increasingly common for Haruhi Suzumiya's human companions to notice the time anomaly. It has only been more recently that this cycle has been modified. Nineteen thousand two hundred and fifty times, the time anomaly was noticed and investigated initially by Itsuki Koizumi on the fourth day of those iterations. For the last seventeen iterations including this one, the anomaly was discovered by you," she looked at me, pointedly, "and investigation into possible solutions to escape this time-plane have been initiated on the first day of each time loop."

Koizumi shook his head, "Why haven't you warned us, Miss Nagato? Surely, with your memory intact, you could have warned us sooner. Observation, by the nature of quantum physics, already changes that which is observed. Why not take a step further?"

Nagato looked down at her shoes, and she answered, "My roles is to observe, not interfere." She actually sounded a little sorry at the accusation.

I glared at Koizumi, "Hey, don't pick on Yuki here. I think it's safe to say that out of all of us, she is the one suffering most. I am sure she wants to leave more than any of us." I'd have put my hand on her shoulder, but Asahina still held it, though she wasn't sobbing so much as just hiccupping.

Koizumi tilted his head at me, but acquiesced, "You are right, of course. I am just frustrated at the concept of having had so much time wasted. Not that we are short of it." He straightened, and said, "Please, call me Itsuki. It's clear you and Miss Nagato have gotten closer in the intervening years, beyond the stretch of time. I'd like us to be as close of friends."

I'll think about it, though I'd much rather not be any closer of friends to you, o' invader of personal space.

Sniffling, Mikuru finally pulled her head away from my arm saying, "I tried classified information to classified information. It's safe to assume classified information if we never return to the usual flow of time."

I looked down at the sweet, if delicate girl trying to hold her composure. I wouldn't necessarily say that she didn't she wasn't suffering either. I suppose not being able to contact the future is a lot like having irrefutable proof that the world has, for all intents and purposes, ended, and we only have two weeks to live. Don't worry Miss Asahina. I might not know what you refer to, but we will fix the timeline.

She sniffled one last time, "I told you, you don't have to be so formal, Kyon. Just call me Mikuru."

I'd think about it, but first we needed to find somewhere we could talk about this in detail.

"We can go to my place." Yuki volunteered, standing. She paced off before any objection, walking in that mechanical way she did, like she was following the instructions on how to walk from a book, rather than from personal experience. We followed. It was time to discuss our plan to escape this time-mess.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Alright, we have gathered here today, on the twenty nine thousand, six hundred and fourth iteration of summer vacation to discuss options to escape, jolt or otherwise return this time plane to its natural order."

Oh, jeeze, stop with the theatrics, Koizumi.

"Heh. My apologies. We are just gathered here so formally. I felt something needed to be said."

We were arranged around the square kotatsu in Yuki's apartment. "We should probably focus on trying to escape this time loop, not jokes."

"You are right, of course. Where do you suggest we begin?"

"Well… um…"

Asahina spoke up, asking "What have we tried before?"

We all looked to Yuki. She took in a deep breath and began, speaking, generally towards me. "We have tried completing summer homework on the final day one thousand times. You have expressed your love for Haruhi Suzumiya seventy times. Itsuki Koizumi has declared his love for Haruhi Suzumiya one hundred twelve times. Mikuru Asahina has declared her love for Haruhi Suzumiya twelve times. You have told Haruhi Suzumiya that you are John Smith two hundred seventy-two times. You have had all of us explain to Haruhi Suzumiya what we are sixty times. Itsuki Koizumi has attempted to tell her stories in the style of Shahrazad seventeen times." Koizumi snapped his fingers in disappointment, "You have burst into anger and called Haruhi Suzumiya various derogatory names five times."

I'm surprised it is only five times.

Yuki nodded, "Yes." Wait, was she agreeing with me? She was still nodding too.

Mikuru Asahina made a small noise and we looked at her, "Um…" she looked very nervous but seemed to have something on her mind, "… we could… could we kill her?"

We were all dead silent for a second, before Yuki continued, "You have killed Haruhi Suzumiya once. Itsuki Koizumi has not killed Haruhi Suzumiya and has refused to do so in previous iterations. Mikuru Asahina has killed Haruhi Suzumiya fifteen times." Koizumi and I stared at Asahina, who looked mortified. "Each time results in a catastrophic failure in this fold of space-time, creating a void that lasts for precisely as long as the remainder of summer would have lasted, before returning to the normal loop."

Koizumi nodded, "So what you are saying is that this loop is not only caused by Haruhi, but she is also the main force keeping our current space time from collapsing?"

Yuki nodded. "Itsuki Koizumi has tried confessing his love for you three times. Mikuru has suggested volun-"

"Sorry, Yuki. I think we need to pause this for a moment. How many different attempts have we made since we started this gathering?"

She continued, "We have endeavored to not repeat previously multilple failed attempts since the discovery of the time-plane loop has begun on the first day. This has occurred six hundred and five times."

Koizumi shook his head, "We might do better just to throw out ideas… Or maybe Miss Nagato could give us a list of the different things we have attempted on paper. It might save us some time."

I shook my head, "We can do that, but I'm not sure I want all our misdeeds spelled out on paper. Homework assignments, on top of my current load, are not appealing…" Not only that, but I hated reading tragedies. I always get melancholic after reading sad endings. Our failures would definitely be a sad story.

Mikuru looked between us both, "Um… should we just blurt out suggestions?"

I shrugged, "Sure, and Yuki can tell us if we have tried it.

And thus we started the six hundred twenty-second bi-weekly "escape from Haruhi Suzumiya's twisted endless summer" meeting. May it be the last.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Trigger warnings**: This chapter and the following chapter contain mature themes including depression and suicide._

_On another note, I posted Chapter 4 earlier this week, it's small and I didn't get an email update that I had posted it earlier. Continuing readers might have missed it as well._

* * *

One Thousand and Counting

Chapter 5

"Two days hence I shall enter an error state, should this time plane not return to normal."

I was sucking on the straw to my shake, which I sincerely wished I could enjoy. As Nagato stared at me, I put the shake down, asking, "What do you mean, error state?"

She looked away, staring at the fries on her tray. Normally, Yuki was a voracious eater, though she seemed off today. Of course, who could blame her? It was another endless summer cycle coming to an end, and we weren't very confident that the cycle was over.

Koizumi had suggested that we post flyers all over school before classes start, just to keep ahead and remind everyone that the SOS Brigade wasn't going anywhere. This, of course, involved breaking into the school, but by miraculous chance, or secret intercession, we weren't caught and hung up nearly two hundred flyers. Haruhi had started off eager, but by the end, she was frowning at every poster we put up.

"I will attempt self-termination in approximately thirty-four hours."

I put my shake down, and pushed my food aside, staring intently at Yuki, who refused to meet my eyes. I didn't say anything for a few moments, hoping the pale girl would look at me. She did not. "What can I do to prevent that, Yuki?"

She spoke in monotone sadness, "There is nothing that can be done."

I shook my head vehemently, "I don't believe that. There must be something I can do for you." I felt my hands form into fists under the table, angry, sad, desperate.

Yuki looked up at me, saying, "This will not be the first instance of this error state. Previous experience correlates that this error state will not lead to the end of the cycles of endless summer. There is no reason to be concerned. Everything will return to normal in the cycle after next, and no one will remember anything of the event."

I was speechless. I was literally stunned. My heart hurt and my head was filled with a buzzing noise Ryoko Asakura could show up right then and stab me in the gut, and I wouldn't have flinched. It took me a few minutes, before I finally said, "Do you think that makes it alright? What about you?"

Yuki was back to staring at her food, "I will be deactivated for approximately twelve and a half days and remember nothing after the error state. Normal functionality will return within eight hours, on the morning of August 18th."

I put my hand on my face and tried to process this all. Nagato continued, "I only warn you on the off chance any inkling of this cycle makes it to you in the next. Please do not do anything rash. Last time you threatened the Integrated Data Thought Entity, and should that cycle be the one that ended the summer, the stability of the world at large would be gravely endangered."

I looked up at her, "I threatened the Integrated Data Thought Entity?"

She nodded, looking up at me, almost shy, almost in awe.

I shook my head, "I can't imagine what I could have done. But it would have been worth it to have you back, Yuki. You of all people deserve to see August end, and if your boss didn't let that happen, I think I could live with the world ending."

Nagato's eyes did something I could tell in my bones was something that had never happened before. Tears glassed over her eyes, gratitude and hurt filling them. "These error states are inevitable, as inevitable as the endless temporal rift."

I stood up and moved to her side of the table, giving her a hug. She didn't react, but I wasn't quite surprised about that. Nagato wasn't really one for physical affection. I let her go and stood up.

"Nothing is inevitable or endless, Yuki Nagato. Come on. I am not going to leave you alone in your apartment tonight. Let's walk around the city a little." She nodded, mute. We stepped into the city until the twilight hour struck, and tomorrow didn't come.

* * *

On the morning we gathered to go shopping for yukata, Yuki didn't show up. For a moment, my heart stopped, and I felt a deep sadness. I blinked, and the moment passed. I couldn't figure out what came over me. Yesterday, we parted ways after discussing the events of the summer. Yuki looked... not quite right, and I asked her how she was. She just said, "It will be fine." I was going to ask further, but she had already started walking on.

"Where's Nagato?" I asked. Haruhi looked at me with a scowl. Koizumi's smirk was not quite as bright as usual, as if something was bothering him.

Asahina shook her head, "She hasn't shown up yet."

I already had my phone out, scrolling through my contacts as she spoke, and Haruhi asked, "What are you doing?"

"Calling her, what does it look like?" I pressed the dial button and held the phone to my ear.

Haruhi looked miffed, but I didn't care. There was a dread building in me. Nothing could stop Yuki from coming to meet us. She was our powerhouse, our protector. She didn't even bat an eye when Ryoko skewered her with transformed classroom desks. What could keep her from being here?

I hung up in disgust when the phone rang for the twentieth time. "Come on. Let's go find her." The other three were looking at me with a mix of concern, confusion, and, in Haruhi's case, annoyance.

"Hey, you don't give the orders around here. Let's go find Yuki!" The others had to walk quickly to catch up to me, as I had stalked off in the direction of her apartment building, Haruhi at my side.

I had a feeling that she wanted to make this into something more fun, but my mood must have started to impress upon her that this was not an adventure.

We knew something was wrong as we rounded a corner and saw her apartment building. We had approached it from the opposite direction of the main entrance. Down the street, was an ambulance with its lights going without the siren. There was a small crowd and a police cordon on the sidewalk. Everything lurched to the side as I saw something... not quite right about the color on the side of the building. I found myself leaning against the building next to us, my hand gripping Haruhi's arm.

My mind flashed to the sad little girl watching the public pool just yesterday, that nagging sense of deja vu. My first thought, unbidden and unexplained was, 'Oh, Yuki, it finally got to you, all this time...' I didn't understand my own thoughts, but I knew what had happened.

Haruhi looked at me affronted, "Hey, what's the big id-"

"Shut up." My voice was cold and I looked behind me, "Koizumi, get Miss Asahina out of here." He had been staring at me with a frown, confused. Suddenly, I could see it click on his face, and his eyes shot towards the apartment. He looked back to me, then nodded. Asahina was still completely bemused, but she let the esper lead her away, while Haruhi yanked me towards her.

"What's your problem, huh? You can't just go-" She had started to get into the swing of her tirade, before she looked back to where I was staring. A block away, they were loading someone into the ambulance. They didn't seem to be too careful or hasty about it.

Haruhi saw the same North High uniform I did, though thankfully, we couldn't make any more details from here. "No..." she breathed. "No... it could be someone else. Someone else who goes to our school, right Kyon? It doesn't have to be Yuki."

There was a cold rage in my gut. Nothing could kill our Yuki. She wouldn't have just fallen off her balcony either. It had to be her boss, the Integrated Data Thought Entity. My hands were in my fists as I tried to figure out who I could lash out at.

"Come on," I muttered. We had to make sure. I took the brigade leader's hand. Haruhi dragged on my arm for a bit, before finding her feet and taking the lead. I didn't mind. She was far better at the investigation game than I was.

It turned out that we didn't need to ask any questions at all.

As we approached, the ambulance closed with a dual thud, and started to drive away. The sirens were not bellowing for anyone to make way. The crowd was dispersing at the motions of the policeman motioned for people to move along.

An older couple, a man and a woman were talking. "It's such a tragedy when this sort of thing strikes a young girl like that."

The man nodded, his voice familiar, "Oh yeah. And she was such a sweet little thing. So quiet. I think she was getting lonely these past few days. She didn't talk to anyone, but she was never standoffish or nothing."

The little old woman said, "Oh, poor dear. Her parents live out of town? What was her room again? I should leave flowers."

The old man, the same old man Haruhi had sweet talked when we investigated the disappearance of Ryouko Asakura, nodded, "Yes, me too. Room 708. Yuki. Yuki Nagato was her name. She lived all alone. Never saw her parents once too. Maybe they will stop by."

Haruhi was now gripping my arm, trying desperately, feebly, to convince me that I was wrong. "No, it couldn't be... It wasn't... It can't be her, Kyon. They must be wrong!" I was thinking furiously, as Haruhi looked lost.

A thought came to me, "Emiri Kimidori." That quiet, nice, second-year girl that had hired us to go looking for her 'boyfriend'. Her boyfriend was supposedly the computer club president who later didn't remember having a girlfriend when I questioned him.

She was sent by Yuki to get us involved. She must be another interface. I knew this for a fact. I don't know how I knew this, but I knew.

Haruhi looked at me, confused, "What?"

I looked at her, saying, "Emiri Kimidori. Come on, lets go find the others." I normally would have never made the connection. But my brain was in overdrive right now, trying to solve a puzzle like a turbo motor suddenly given the nitrous oxide. Haruhi's mystery ZOZ Brigade symbol caused super weird ancient alien data parasites to infect the computer club president, Emiri came to us for help.

It wasn't Koizumi's style to keep quiet about his involvement in this sort of thing, and only Nagato and the Data-thingy could have guessed that someone would be infected by some ancient whats-it.

The other two memebers were just down the street and around the corner at a bench near a fast food place. Koizumi looked haunted, and Asahina was trying to figure out what was wrong.

They looked to us, though I spoke before they could. "We need to find Emiri Kimidori. Do you remember, Asahina? I think I recall Yuki telling me afterwards that Emiri was her... cousin or something. We need to talk to her."

Both of the girls looked at me in doubt. Haruhi asked, "Kyon, how are we..." I interrupted her again, saying, "The computer president, she was his girlfriend, right? You two go find him. I am sure he is home. He will have her address, or her number."

Haruhi started to get belligerent again, and she asked, "And what are you going to do?"

I pointed back towards Yuki's apartment, "Koizumi and I are going to search for information there. Maybe we can find Yuki's family contact information there."

Haruhi put her arms on her hips, asking, "And why am I not on that job?"

I smiled, not feeling particularly amused, "I don't think there is anyone more suited to extort information from the computer club president than you two." A shock, and I saw that Haruhi looked almost, a tiny bit guilty. Mikuru whimpered a little, still remembering her last encounter with the computer club. I felt a little guilty for using her like this, but I needed Haruhi out of here, and Asahina would be safer away from ground zero. "Besides, Koizumi could claim to be Yuki's boyfriend or something." Koizumi raised his eyebrows at that, but said nothing.

Haruhi scowled and grabbed Asahina's arm. "Come on, let's go then. Call me in two hours to report." She must have been more rattled than she pretended to go along with me so easily.

Koizumi watch in faux amusement as the two walked off, before turning to me and asking, "And what exactly are we doing? Surely not looking to find Yuki's family information."

My smile turned vindictive, "We are going to remind an alien superbeing of its place in the pecking order."


	6. Chapter 6

_**Trigger warnings**: This chapter and the previous chapter contain mature themes including depression and suicide._

* * *

Chapter 6

I began trekking back to the apartment building, Koizumi in tow. He was a little behind, and had to speed up to get beside me, "Okay. I understand your reasoning. Yuki was my friend too. But, Kyon, what are you going to do?" I slowed down. We were walking past the… scene, and towards the other side of the building, where the main entrance was.

"I am going to threaten the Integration-thing through Emiri Kimidori. You know where she lives right? I have always had a feeling your Organization thing keeps tabs on her kind."

Koizumi scoffed, and I turned my face to glare at him. His eyes widened, "Oh, you're serious. I thought you were kidding about trying to bully a nigh-omniscient uncomprehendable alien from beyond the stars."

I continued walking, slowing further to match the pace of the man in front of me with flowers who was staring at the building we needed to enter. "Nope."

Koizumi's voice dropped, "And how do you plan to do that?"

I didn't actually know until Koizumi said something just now. "They will bring back Yuki… or else I will teach Haruhi everything I know about Godwin, Nietzsche, and Lovecraft."

Koizumi frowned, "What, you intend to send her into a fit of despair and melancholy? Won't that kill everyone?"

I motioned in negation. I gritted my teeth in a smile, "No, I was thinking more of creating an Ubermensch fueled by individual exceptionalism and with a burning hatred of incomprehensible monsters from beyond our solar system who don't care about us humans."

Koizumi was quiet, letting out a simple "Oh."

The man with the flowers got the door open, and just as it was sliding closed, I stuck my foot in the door, just like Haruhi. "So Koizumi. Where does Emiri Kimidori live?"

He shook his head, "Most of the TFEI's live upstairs. I will call my superior and ask." He didn't argue with me anymore.

"Good."

We got in the elevator, and I held the Close Door button while Koizumi talked on the phone. I was too focused on trying to ignore the gnawing pain at me from Yuki, and for rage for the Integrated Data Thought Entity, to listen.

He finally hung up, "She is in room 603."

I pressed the number six.

Koizumi was quiet for a bit, then asked, "Are you sure that you aren't overreacting? The IDTE might not have had anything to do with this."

"Are you suggesting she did it to herself?"

Koizumi paused at either my tone or to cushion his next words. "The possibility exists. She did seem off yesterday."

I sighed, "Everything seemed off yesterday. It felt like I could predict every word out of everyone's mouth. Every event and each happenstance."

Koizumi took even more time to respond. Did he think I was crazy? Finally, he sighed, "You too, huh?"

I nodded, and the elevator door opened. I stepped out heading straight for the door with the six-zero-three on it.

I pounded on the door.

There wasn't a response.

I pounded on the door again. "Open this door, Emiri. I want to have a word with your boss."

There was nothing. I was about to pound again.

The door opened. The pale haired girl stared at me from across the threshold, a concerned look on her face.

"Where is Yuki? What did your boss do?"

Emiri Kimidori frowned, "Yuki is in the ambulance heading for the nearest hospital. Would you please step inside? I don't think this is the best place for this conversation?" Her voice was wispy and soft, like before, but I could tell she wasn't acting like she was before. She stepped back and headed for her living room.

I stepped inside, Koizumi was about to follow, but I looked to him and shook my head. "Stay here. Call for help if I don't come out in ten minutes."

Koizumi was bemused, "Call who? I think this is even out of the Organization's scale if things go wrong for you."

I looked at him dumbly, "Call Haruhi. Who else?"

Koizumi smiled, looking almost sad. "I'm almost jealous. Your complete trust in her to do the right thing. Just like her complete trust that you will make everything alright."

I shook my head. This isn't the time for your nonsense, Koizumi. We need to stay focused.

"Right, sorry. I'll bring in the cavalry if you need it. Good luck in there."

I turned back towards Emiri, who was looking at me curiously from down the hall. I took off my shoes and put on the spare set of slippers Emiri had. No need to be impolite while I shake them down for information.

If I actually paused to think about what I was doing. A small singular mouse trying to argue down an alpha wolf. The thing was, I did have a lion at my back. The lion didn't know it yet, though.

Emiri Kimidori motioned to the table in her living room. It was a real table, not a kotatsu like in Yuki's apartment. On the center of the table was an old fashion cast iron teapot and some teacups decorated with pastel flowers.

She took the seat furthest from the door, pulling out the boxy chair and motioned for me to sit. "Would you like some tea?"

I didn't sit down. "No. I want to know what you and your boss did to Yuki."

She shook her head, "I didn't do anything. Neither did my "boss" as you put it."

I didn't buy it. "That's bull. Do you expect me to believe that? I want straight answers or I start making conditions for your unequivocal surrender."

Emiri shook her head and extended her hand towards me. In her hand was a letter. I couldn't explain it. When she first extended her hand, there was nothing. Next, there was a letter. It was literally conjured from thin air. It was unfolded, and there were lines of words written on there so neat it could have been typed.

"What's that?" I asked suspiciously.

"Yuki told me to give it to you. She said it would explain everything." Emiri poured herself a cup of tea as I hesitantly took it from her hand.

I read the letter. It didn't start with any fanfare. It simply stated facts.

"If you are reading this, then I am currently deactivated. In the case of my self-termination, then it was calculated that you would attempt to threaten the Integrated Data Thought Entity with extinction, by agitating Haruhi Suzumiya's data creation abilities. Please do not. I ask this of you, not because I wish to remain deactivated, but because your efforts are ultimately futile, for in two weeks' time, I will return. I have self-terminated due to an accumulation of errors I can't quantify during the summer's passage of time. You will not remember this, as we have entered an endless recursion of time. We have been repeating the same two weeks of summer thirty eight thousand seven hundred and twenty-four times. You will have experienced ripple effects in your memory as a result, though you won't remember the details. Through my connection to the Integrated Data Thought Entity, I do remember each iteration. However, please do not try to end the cycle until I have had time to… recover and return. I would like to be with you when the universe escapes the repeating time-plane. I would like to be able to see September 1st. Any major attempts by you to agitate Haruhi Suzumiya might reduce my chances of making it back. It is my responsibility to observe and protect the group. I have failed. This is all my mistake. I am sorry for causing everyone this stress. I just needed-"

The letter ended abruptly. There were tears in my eyes. I put the letter down and put my face in my hands, rubbing. I looked up at Emiri.

"Is what's in this letter true? Are we in the middle of a recursive time loop?" Emiri nodded, sipping her tea.

"Why aren't you affected by the same errors?"

She shrugged, putting the teacup down, "Once the time loop was known, all other active interfaces were put into stand-by mode."

I picked up the letter, "And Yuki?"

She shook her head, "By the nature of her required observation, she could not be put into stand-by mode."

I stood up, having sat down while reading the letter. I shook said letter at her, "And this is okay for you? For your boss?"

Emiri looked concerned, "We certainly don't want her malfunctioning. What do you mean?"

"I mean, why did you let her suffer like this? Errors? You let her deal with nearly hundreds of years of repetition? It's not some computer error she is dealing with, but pent up emotion from centuries of boredom and dashed hope. Why did you do that to her?"

Emiri tilted her head at me, "Do you propose we reprogram her emotional protocols to allow her to better deal with it? Her personality might change as a result."

"No! I want you to care about your goddamned employees. You get to sit in standby mode while she suffers. Could you somehow give her a break that doesn't require her to try to kill herself?"

Emiri Kimidori shook her head, "Any simulacra we created to replace Yuki Nagato would not be equipped to deal with any unexpected occurrences. Likewise, the replacement would be noticed by you and possibly Haruhi Suzumiya which could lead to further disaster. There is also the chance that something else might strike out at Haruhi Suzumiya while Yuki Nagato couldn't protect you. Is there anything else?"

I was about to yell something in retort, when I realized there was nothing here for me. Yuki's boss was as cold and merciless as they come, and I couldn't get anything by just shouting.

Yuki requested that I didn't fight. The last time she requested me to do something was when she told me to read her book. So I walked out of the house, Koizumi looking at me with a concerned look on his face.

I handed him the letter to read while I walked back to the elevator. He followed as he read. I pressed the button for the ground floor.

Koizumi must have finished, as he folded the sheet closed and handed back to me. "Well." He seemed to need a moment to find the words, "What do you think about the letter? I don't want to bias your opinion with my attempts at humor."

I looked over at him, then stared at the folded sheet, "I believe that we are in a recursion of time. Everything about yesterday was bizarre. I certainly felt like I was watching the same movie for the thousandth time."

Koizumi chuckled, "Well, if this letter is to be believed, that is a fraction of the time we have spent at the pool."

I turned towards him, "What, is this a joke to you?" Because I assure you no one, not a single person is laughing. Least of all me.

Koizumi, for the second time that day, looked shocked and dismayed. "Listen, Kyon. Our differences aside, I wouldn't joke about this. We have spent fifteen centuries going to the pool, Bon festivals and other frivolities. Yuki, someone I do consider a friend, killed herself to escape for thirteen days. How much time will she endure before she has to do it again?" He looked a little angry, staring back at me, "How many times has it happened before?"

He caught onto that too, huh? Obviously I had threatened the Data Entity before, with possibly calamitous results equaled only by Chernobyl and Three Mile Island multiplied together. Yuki sounded like she was pleading, not just asking.

Finally, the slow elevator reached the bottom and opened. "Sorry. I don't think this has happened too many times. I am not feeling any déjà vu. Are you?" I did feel better that Koizumi wasn't making this out as some big joke.

He shook his head, "None at all. Good thinking."

My phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket and looked at the caller ID. It was Haruhi.

I sighed and looked to Koizumi. What do we tell her?

He looked baffled, "I don't know any better than you do. I would suggest that we don't show her this note, however."

Thanks, genius. I would never have thought to show her that note in a million years. I answered the phone before Haruhi went ballistic on my voice mail.

"What took you so long to answer?! Where are you?"

"We are still at Nagato's apartment, but we are about to leave."

"What!? Why?"

I rolled my eyes, grasping for some lie to tell her. "We couldn't find out anything about Nagato's family at all."

Haruhi growled, literally growled, before exasperating, "We couldn't find anything either. The club president wasn't home, and when we asked a neighbor, they said that he went to see family in Osaka until the day of classes."

I nodded, "Makes sense. Lots of people go out of town on summer."

"Yes, but..." She sighed, sounding like she deflated, miserable. "Kyon... Nagato... she..."

I knew what she meant. Nagato was the standard by which we all measured normality. She was, for all her silence, the club's most stalwart member. She even waited in the club room before the Brigade was even started. With her gone... I looked down at the note in my hand. It was literally our only hope.

"Yeah. Do you want to meet up still?"

She sounded despondent. "Yeah. I... It's..." She trailed off.

"Yeah. We'll see you in a bit."

In the end, we all gathered together and mourned our friend's... disappearance. The next day, Haruhi forced me to go investigating Nagato's apartment again. She dug around and found out more than I had expected. According to the building manager that day, a fit man in his thirties, Yuki Nagato was an orphan who inherited a fortune that was managed by the family lawyer, who lived out of town. We tried contacting him, but he wouldn't see us.

Normally that kind of challenge would just inspire Haruhi to new heights of creativity, but she was clearly too distraught to have a fit and storm every law office until she found the right one.

Koizumi surmised it must have been Haruhi who caused the temporal loop to occur, because only Mikuru, he and I experienced the pain-inducing deja vu. Mikuru couldn't contact the future either, so that ruled out finding out for sure if Yuki Nagato still existed in the future. Of course, getting no answer was more reassuring than a grim answer.

I tried not to think about the last two weeks much. I even finished my homework to keep my mind busy. I had never lost a friend like this, and I didn't want to. So Koizumi, Mikuru and I went along with whatever Haruhi asked, hoping that would be sufficient enough to bring our Yuki back.

Koizumi and I were loitering just down the street from Yuki's apartment building. I stared at my phone clock. It was 11:58 pm, nearly midnight. If Yuki wasn't back in three minutes, I was going to call Haruhi and bring the thunder.

"Do you really think this is the best plan?"

I ignored him for a moment, but Itsuki asked a valid question. "Do I ever really think I know what's best? It's a crapshoot, Koizumi. Do you really want to live in a world where the Integrated Entity-thing gets away with this sort of tragedy?"

He tilted his head and thought about it. "Well, to be fair, this is more Haruhi's doing than the Integrated Data Thought Entity's. Shouldn't we be waiting outside her house?"

I looked at him, and he laughed, "Of course, you know I am kidding. Haruhi may have the power to isolate the world in a recursive time loop, but she isn't quite responsible for it, either. It is like someone gave her a magic box that contained all the powers of the world. You wouldn't hold a child responsible for driving off in a car. You hold the adult who gave them the keys responsible."

I frowned, "So you think that some greater being gave Haruhi the keys to the universe and walked away?"

He looked incredulous, "What? Oh, you know me. I am no good at explaining things. I think nothing, therefore I am nothing." Eyes wide, he was doing his "oh don't mind me" impressions.

I ignored him halfway through his theater performance, and stared down at my phone again.

11:59...

12:00.

I pulled up Haruhi on my phone and dialed. She didn't answer for a while, but finally, the phone stopped ringing, and a muzzed Haruhi asked, "What? Who is it? Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Haruhi, I am John S-"

* * *

My alarm went off, and I flailed halfheartedly at it to shut off. Eventually, it was silent, but my sister was already humming her way into my room. Her bright voice penetrated the silence, "Wakey-Wakey, Kyon!"

She grabbed my sheets, which I had been laying on, and pulled with all her might. I didn't have the energy to fight back this early, it was a Herculean effort and I was just a man.

I rolled onto the floor and she giggled, skipping out of the room.

I finally opened my eyes and blinked at the ceiling, before a dagger stabbed through my heart. I was awake in an instant, scrambling. Finally, I found it and rapidly pressed the dial button.

The phone rang once, and then cut off. I could hear someone breathing on the other side. "Hey, Yuki. Its... its me. I hope I didn't wake you." What was I doing? Was I possessed? Why did I call Yuki in such a panic? What was that feeling gripping at my gut, worry that she might not answer?

"No. I wasn't sleeping."

My breath went out in a relieved sigh. She was okay. The feeling of fear and worry left me, leaving only confusion. Why was I so concerned about Yuki's wellbeing? If anyone was okay, it was the club rock, Yuki Nagato. I shook my head, "Sorry, Yuki. I, um..."

Well, since I was talking to her, I might as well make sure she is okay. "Are you doing okay? I had a feeling..." How do you explain that you woke in a panic, suddenly certain a close friend was suffering? Or that they might not answer at all?

There was a pause. I wondered if there was actually something wrong. If there was, I would start selling my services as a psychic and make Koizumi take a new specialization. She finally answered, "I'm good now."

I wasn't sure, so I asked, "Were you doing bad?"

A shorter pause, "It's nothing."

Well that was frustrating. Weren't we friends? "Yuki, we're friends. It means we look out for each other. I want you to tell me if you have something troubling you. I want to help you like you've helped me. Tell me when you need help, Yuki." A thought occured to me, reminding me of that time in at the island retreat. "Consider that an order, Yuki." I tried to make it sound like a joke, but it was lame, and I was embarrassed and even feeling guilty for saying it at first. I didn't want her to take it literally.

Of course, this was a morning of impossible events, and I think I heard the barest breath of laughter from the speaker at my ear, followed by:

"I will. Thank you."

It couldn't have been a laugh, could it? Surely it was a cough, or maybe the sound of fabric against the receiver. Could Yuki have actually made an amused noise? No really, I am asking. I'd think it would take a thousand years to teach her to laugh. Nah, it had to be static.

Suddenly, I was nervous, "A-a-anyway. I didn't mean to bother you. I think Haruhi has something cooked up for today. I just have a feeling. Um... see you later."

"See you."

I hung up and swore to myself that I would forget everything about this awkward morning for the rest of my life. I even had a deadline. By the end of the week, but surely by the end of the summer, I would completely utterly empty the memory storage banks for August 18th. That was the only way I could I remain sane in a world where Yuki started laughing at bad jokes.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Hey Yuki?"

"Yes?"

"Do you mind if I invite Miss Asa-… Mikuru along for dinner? She was really out of this whole time and I don't think Haruhi's extra attention helped. She might not want to come, but… she might also want a little company today too. I don't remember her ever seeming so down during one of these cycles." I say remember, but I really mean I don't have any déjà vu about her being so out of it.

Yuki, strangely, seemed warm to the idea, "Being alone during hard times is difficult. I am fine with it." And Yuki was far more talkative anymore. She expressed opinions occasionally. Maybe all this time was really changing her.

Let me back up to August Eighteenth.

We had all gathered in the park, after just parting ways from the café not thirty minutes ago. I looked between Itsuki and Mikuru, who were standing around me, listening to Yuki lay out the truth of the matter.

The story was as follows. We were trapped in some sort of time-loop thing. We have been repeating the next two week for over fifteen centuries. Haruhi caused it all too. Hmm… maybe I should have let Yuki explain. She's better at it, though a little more… wordy.

Koizumi spoke up, "How sure are you of this, Miss Nagato?"

She spoke up, "Very."

I motioned to Mikuru, "Miss Asahina, can you confirm her story? Maybe the future could tell us how to get out?"

She opened her mouth, "Oh…" She had seemed out of it all day. She had even forgotten to bring a lunch for us at the pool. I think she would have forgotten her bathing suit if Haruhi hadn't brought her one to wear.

Mikuru, regardless of her usual discomfort around Yuki, sat down next to the pale alien. She sighed. "Do I have to?"

I was taken aback, and the pain at the back of my skull, my déjà vu sense, abated some. "No, of course not, Miss Asahina…" I had never heard Mikuru simply deny a request like that.

She sighed again. "Sorry, Kyon. My head hurts. If you asked me what I thought would happen next, I would tell you that there won't be a classified information. Knowledge before acknowledgment is theoretically a sign of classified information, which leads into classified information…"

She looked down into her lap, "And if I have to classified information and I don't even get classified information… I am going to cry. I just know it, like I shouldn't. All these un-memories…"

I looked at Koizumi, who was looking back at me. Mikuru was definitely being talkative today. By the look on Itsuki's face, he was even more surprised than I was. I looked back to her, stepping closer to put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Miss Asahina, you don't have to check right now."

She looked up at me, tired, mildly annoyed, and maybe a little humored, "I told you, stop being so formal. Please call me Mikuru if you like."

I nodded, "Right, sorry Miss- Mikuru." She giggled tiredly at that, and I looked at Itsuki, "So where too from here, do you think, Koizumi?"

He smiled and gave one of his shrugs, his hands rising in surrender. "Don't look at me. You called us here, do you have an idea? Also, please, if we are all being informal, call me Itsuki."

I glanced at Yuki, who was staring at the sagging Mikuru with mild interest and a hint of concern. "Let's go somewhere and talk about this. We can see what we have tried, and we can maybe come up with a new plan to stop the cycle from repeating.

Of course, all of that happened thirteen days ago. On August 31st, we tried volunteering at an elementary school at Koizumi's request. Haruhi was happy to run around the school during the morning, but by two O'clock, she was tired of hanging up decorations and scrubbing desks. She dismissed us and we all went home.

Around four, I called Yuki and invited her out to dinner. Now, I am calling Mikuru to see if she wanted to join us. I probably ought to invite Itsuki too, but I'd leave that off for next time. Mikuru seemed to do better with less people, and I don't actually quite know how much the two of them got along. I wasn't doing it for my own enjoyment. Mostly.

"Hello? Mikuru Asahina speaking."

"Hey, Mikuru, do you want to come out with Yuki and I to dinner? You seemed kind of out of it, and I figured you might like company."

"Oh? You and Yuki? Would I be interrupting something?" She seemed uncertain.

I better clear this up quickly, "It's nothing, really. Just hanging out. Mostly, I think Yuki is humoring me. She won't tell me how many times I've taken up her evenings with pointless conversation anymore. I think she likes the company, and you are more than welcome."

"Hm. I wonder." There was silence, and I imagined her in some ridiculously adorable thinking pose. "Alright. Sure. Where are we meeting up?"

I told her the details and she agreed to meet us out in front of Nagato's apartment.

I didn't know what traffic would be like today, so I headed out early, and got there before Mikuru, though not before Yuki. Of course.

She stood outside her building, still as a statue and twice as quiet. The wind ruffled her school uniform's skirt, and made her hair twitch. In the falling light, she seemed as one with the universe, staring into the street like she could see the whole universe in the passing traffic. Maybe she was coping with the passage of time better than I worried.

Maybe this was just a good cycle.

"Hey, Yuki."

She turned towards me, breaking the silent spell with a nod and "Hello."

"How are you doing?"

She shrugged, a surprising motion from her, "I am currently at peace."

That was certainly more telling than her usual 'I'm fine'. I smiled, "Good. I told Mikuru to be here in ten minutes. She seemed really out of it. She even refused to sing when Haruhi told her to sing at karaoke. That really shocked me." Seeing Mikuru stand up for herself was by far the last thing I expected to see.

She nodded, "As the time loop is extended beyond comprehension of ordinary beings, emotional barriers break down through the passage of time. Occasionally this affects one of us in an extreme manner. Depression, fury, insanity has affected all of us at least once throughout the endless repetition of time but for two members of the brigade."

"Huh. Who are the two?"

She looked up at me, "Haruhi Suzumiya… and you. Haruhi Suzumiya appears to be static and unaware of the centuries passing, like all those outside of the club. Your worst emotional shift occurs when you verbally berate Haruhi for keeping the time-loop going."

"I probably ought to do that more often." I shook my head, "Don't know what makes me special."

"It is theorized and predicted that your stability is dependent on the relative instability of any situation we deal with and by your connection to us. As long as we are coping, either successfully or not, with the oddities around us with you, you are able to deal sanely with any issues that might arise."

I shook my head, "What, like the power of friendship keeps me sane?"

Yuki shrugged again, "Possible. Or it has been considered that you might suffer from some undiagnosed dissociative disorder. The Integration Data Thought Entity is uncertain."

I think I'd prefer the first one, if I had any say in it. I was almost afraid to ask Yuki which one she believed was true. She tilted her head towards me a few Plank's lengths and shrugged, a glint of humor in her eye. I rolled my eyes. Thanks for the vote of confidence.

"Remind me to invite Itsuki next time too. I kind of like the idea of us getting together on the last day, commiserating." Nagato nodded in affirmation. Whether she was nodding in agreement, or just confirming that she would remind me, I couldn't tell.

Mikuru was actually late, if you'd believe it. You would think a time traveler would be able to keep time. Though, I would try not to give her a hard time. She looked tired and even a little frazzled, like she had been napping before coming over, her hair in cute tangle. She smiled as she approached us, but it was a tired smile, like she was happy to see us, but also had been working for twenty hours straight and just needed a break.

"Hi. I am sorry if I kept you two waiting. I accidently rode the train one station too far. Transportation in this time plane is…" she paused, frowning, "Less efficient."

I laughed, "Well, if everyone can teleport through space and time like you, I can see why."

She shook her head, "No. I am here on special assignment. There are classified information in classified information." Like always, Mikuru only realized after she spoke what exactly she said. She sighed, "Sorry. It's like I think the sentences, but somewhere in between my classified information and my mouth they get censored." She realized what she said and sighed again.

Yuki spoke up, "Mikuru Asahina, do you like curry?" And don't change the subject!

Mikuru looked between us in mild wonder, and seemed unsure if she should laugh or not. "Um, sure, as long as it isn't too spicy… And you can just call me Mikuru as well, Yuki."

Yuki nodded and, surprisingly, she led the way down the street. Maybe she found some place she liked? I'd like to eat at a place that Yuki chose of her own free will.

Of course, I bet I have before. Maybe she'd know what I liked. I'll ask her. I guess we will have to discover what Mikuru and Koizumi like too, eventually.

We fell silent for a little while, before I finally had the nerve to ask. "So Mikuru… why did you um… kill her so many times?" I was flashing back to the night at Yuki's apartment, two weeks ago. I'd only killed her twice, I suppose out of obligation to the world to try something. But Mikuru had killed her thirty-two times. That seemed excessive to me, and Koizumi had been completely aghast.

Mikuru froze for a moment, her face a rictus of startled embarrassment. She unfroze and slumped. I winced. Sorry, that was totally not appropriate for me to ask.

She shook her head and lifted it to look me in the face. "No… its alright…" She continued walking, sighing like all the weight of the world was on her shoulder. "I know Koizumi told you about what he thinks Haruhi is, right?"

Some kind of god, or a sleeping dragon.

"Right, well… that's not quite what we think. By we, I mean us in the future… She is more like… How should I put it… A force of nature? She isn't directly responsible for all the events that occur… just related to them?" She looked surprised, "I guess I didn't say anything restricted there… She is like a classified information, unstoppable. And now she…" Asaina waved her hand vaguely before her, "She has destroyed the future. I don't have anything here, Kyon. Everything I know is a lie, and as long as this continues..." She shook her head, surprisingly loquacious if melancholic, "I effectively don't exist, and neither does anything else."

She shook her head, "Maybe my previous instances believed that killing her would be a way to stop the disaster, just like you can use classified information to break down a classified information. It would just take a lot of stress for me to actually… consider… um, murder."

She looked at me, seeking validation. "Does that make sense?"

I nodded, "Yeah. I can see that. For me, the future just is… coming, but not here. For you, all your friends and family and knowledge come from a place that doesn't exist. Sort of like staring into the abyss, and the abyss staring into you."

She seemed a bit lost from my reference, but she nodded. "Yeah. Like that." She sighed again, but didn't seem as depressed. Maybe she was glad to get it off her chest.

I put my hand on her shoulder, saying, "Don't worry. We all have our issues. Yuki said I have issues that make me so crazy I'm sane most of the time. Isn't that right?"

I had kind of expected that she would deny this, but Yuki appeared thoughtful for a moment, before nodding. Hey, whose side are you on?

Mikuru giggled again, and everything seemed relaxed again.

"So Mikuru… you seemed down this last couple weeks. I mean, more than usual. More than my déjà vu sense remembers, at least."

She sighed again, walking on my right, while Yuki walked before us. "It all just hit me. When Miss-.. um… When Yuki started to explain everything, it all clicked, and I knew why I was so sad. We've spent so much time here that…" she sighed, "Nevermind. It's classified."

I nodded, "That conditioning must be tough to deal with." I looked at the back of Nagato's head, "I wonder if Yuki can translate your intended words."

Mikuru looked nervous at the idea, but Yuki shook her head, "I can infer what words might possibly fill the gap with relatively high probability, but I cannot actually be certain that is the intended information."

Mikuru looked a little relieved though in a depressed manner, "Oh good, at least they got that right?" She shook her head, "You know, they sent me here with nearly no information. I mean, I was classified information to speak classified information…" She shook her head. "I mean, they taught me to speak your modern Japanese, but they didn't teach me much else. Those first weeks trying to figure out paper currency were so hard."

I raised my eyebrow, "Should you be sharing that?"

She shrugged, "Not really, but who cares. You won't remember it, and if Yuki wanted to know she could just download the relevant information."

That was pretty cavalier for Mikuru, but Yuki spoke up, "I do not download information as would be defined by modern standards."

Mikuru giggled half-heartedly, but looked at me and winked, "Neither do I. If classified information were classified information, I could probably know what you and Koiz- Ituski philosophized about all the time." I could swear, if she were a few inches taller, I wouldn't be able to tell her apart from her "big sister".

I frowned, "Surely your history can't be that different from ours. Aristotle or Newton can't be that far back in time for you."

Mikuru threw her head back and laughed, seeming all the world like I told the best joke of the century. Yuki looked back at her, then to me, and gave me a thin but real smile. Great, both of them were laughing at me now.

"I wish I knew what the joke was." I said, a mite grumpily.

Mikuru shook her head and finally stopped giggling, "Sorry, Kyon. But with enough… time, you might understand." Her smile still threatened to burst into more chuckles at my poor ignorant self.

Yuki nodded along with her.

Yuki, listening in silence, had stopped and turned to face us, pointing at a local curry shop.

"Is this where you want you eat."

"This is where I would like to eat, if there are no objections."

Neither of us objected and the ayes had it. As we stepped in, Mikuru grabbed my elbow and pulled me down to whisper in my ear. "Thanks for inviting me out. I didn't really want to spend the rest of my evening alone in my apartment."

It's not a problem, Mikuru. It's what friends are for.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 

It was two in the afternoon. We had finished volunteering at the homeless center for the morning and Haruhi declared our work done after lunch. We were still trying to think of new things in order to stop the endless time-loop we found ourselves. Haruhi was still being obstinate, and didn't seem impressed by the activities. I had gotten home maybe five minutes ago, and was trying to figure out to do with the last of my summer vacation. There wasn't any possible way I could finish my homework in time, so I didn't even bother.

I guess I would just lay around for the rest of the day. That's all I really wanted to do. After two weeks and fifteen centuries of running around, I just wanted to relax, lay back and sleep. Would the universe survive one more iteration? I certainly have nothing else to try today.

Yeah, sitting back and relaxing sounded good. Maybe eat dinner with the family. Though something about that put a bad taste in my mouth… Maybe I could-

My phone rang, which launched me out of the fugue state I'd just entered, moments from falling into a nap.

I jumped to my feet and went to the phone on my desk. As it rang again, I saw it was none other than our resident non-resident, Yuki. I answered immediately.

"What's up, Yuki?"

There was a pause, and she finally asked, "I require your assistance."

"What?"

She paused again this time for longer. Finally, her breathing stopped and she answered, "I need help. In a previous iteration, you ordered me to ask you for help if I ever needed anything."

I smiled. "No, I mean, what can I do for you, Yuki? Is it something to do with Haruhi or the time loop?"

"I would prefer to discuss the matter in person. No and partially."

That took me a moment to think about, but I finally figured out what she meant, having answered my questions exactly as I asked them.

"Okay. Sure. Where should I meet you? Should I call the others?"

"My place will suffice." She hesitated, "I would rather have your help alone with this."

"Alright. I will be right over." I hadn't really been too interested in sleeping anyway, and for Yuki, I'd brave Suleiman's army across Asia Minor. She had done so much for us all, and was keeping it together over all this time. She saved my life, and all I've done is ask her for more. I wonder what she could need.

I gathered my stuff and biked over to her apartment. She let me up and inside. As I removed my shoes and put on the slippers, I asked, "So what can I help you with, Yuki?"

She didn't answer, walking into her living room. I followed, and she motioned for me to take a seat at her table. I was a little concerned this might be something serious, given her reticence to talk. What in the world could Yuki need help with I asked.

She brought a tray with teacups and a pot resting on top to the table. It was so much like that first time I came over to Yuki's apartment that I was getting déjà vu, though not the headache-inducing-endless-summer deja vu. She didn't ask if I wanted tea, however, just gave me a full cup.

She finally sat down. Staring me in the face, she finally said, "I have finished every piece of written publication within my travel limits."

I had been about to take a sip. I was glad I hadn't or I would have spewed tea everywhere, like an out of control garden hose. Instead, I just froze, staring at Yuki. Finally, I asked, "I'm sorry?"

She rephrased, for my benefit., "There are no more accessible books to read within this city that contain unique information."

I put the tea down. "You have read every single book?"

She shook her head, "That is not accurate. I have read every single book within the city limits that is not secured or otherwise withheld from my perusal by means I cannot circumvent."

I covered my face with my hand for a moment, "Oh brother. So you called me over because you don't have anything else to read?"

She seemed to hesitate for a moment, "I did not mean to exceed my bounds by asking you this." She sounded concerned, and maybe even a little hurt. Could Nagato express two emotions at once? Nevermind that. I should probably clear this up.

"No, no. It's totally fine. I was just concerned that you were going to tell me that you were losing it, or that the mole men from the world below were going to attack once the cycle ended."

She shook her head, "No, my current functions are relatively stable other than my reading concerns, and there is no impending attack."

I guess that was as close to a confirmation that she was doing fine as I was going to- wait, no impending attack? Does that mean the mole men are real? She's joking with me, got to be. She still looked a little worried though.

"Seriously, Yuki, its fine. I am glad you asked for help. I want to help you, okay?"

She seemed to relax, just a little, and nodded. "Okay."

"So you have read everything in the city that isn't secure… have you tried used book stores?"

She nodded.

"Okay. How about universities? They probably would let you in, since it is summer. You might not be able to check them out, however."

She glanced away for a moment, looking slightly guilty. "I have modified minor data so that I show up as a student in local higher learning facilities in the city so I may check their books out."

I raised my eyebrow, "Well… I have only ever seen you read books. Have you tried doujinshi or television shows? They say a picture is worth a thousand words."

She shook her head, "I do not… process visual data as efficiently as native humans might. While I have gone to museums and other displays of visual media, but I have trouble ascribing words or distinctions amongst them, let alone a thousand words."

I nodded, and sipped my tea. This was serious. I didn't know what would happen if Yuki started getting, not only bored of each SOS Brigade event, but also the entirety of the time she spent waiting for us to figure out how to get out of this time distortion.

Of course, I had one idea left, but it was risky. I don't know where it might lead, and if I was doing something that might possibly be even more dangerous to the future of humanity as a whole. I don't even know I if I was being dramatic by thinking that either.

The alternative would mean Yuki sitting alone in her apartment staring at the wall or something, in complete silence for years on end. The thought was too much to bear.

"Okay, Yuki. I have an idea. We need to go to the library however." She nodded. I finished the tea and we set off downstairs.

She rode on my bike behind me, nearly weightless and not needing to hold on in order to stay seated. When we arrived at the library, it was pretty quiet, which was good.

We walked in, and Yuki stared at all the shelves, probably ones she had seen a thousand times. "Okay, Yuki. You've used a computer before, haven't you?"

She hesitated and nodded her head as I guided her to one of the computers that were available for everyone's use. I sat her down in front of the computer, and then stole a chair from nearby. Of course she had. Nagato had shown us the webpage on the computer club president's home PC. "Have you used one to do much more than check the SOS Brigade's homepage.

She shook her head.

"Alright. Well, surely you have read about them?" She nodded. "Well, there's a lot more to them than just doing your work as an observer."

A window showed up. "This… is the internet." I double-clicked on the icon for a web browser.

I showed her how to get around. How to type in new website addresses, how to click on links. How to scroll down a page. I left her on Wikipedia to start with. I figured that would take her some time to get through. I didn't think she could run out of things to read on the internet.

But I am pretty certain that there are a lot of things on the internet she shouldn't probably be reading.

Yuki started reading the first article, which was the featured article of the day. It was about some guy named Alan Turing.

I am not sure if it was the monitor reflecting off her face, or something more, but her eyes glittered like the night sky, endless and deep.

Yuki Nagato reading the entire contents of the internet. It's not a problem, surely. Probably…


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

We sat around Yuki Nagato's table, about to begin our first brainstorming meeting for the forty-five thousand seven thousand and thirtieth loop of summer. Asahina was interjecting with "Well, should we start with learning what we have tried in the past?"

Yuki spoke up, "I have a prepared message for that question."

Itsuki asked, "Prepared? What do you mean?"

Yuki looked at Itsuki, "You have, on a previous iteration, prepared a statement for me to recite, triggered on asking what we have done in the past."

I raised my eyebrows, "That was pretty smart of us. When did we start doing that?"

Yuki looked at me, "I was told to tell you that you should stop asking questions and just let me recite the speech. By you."

I frowned as Itsuki and Mikuru laughed, "Past me is a jerk. Go ahead then, Yuki."

Yuki nodded, took a breath, and began speaking in her normal flat tone, but with my cadence and word choice. It was… disconcerting, to say the least. "You have gathered here to brainstorm ideas. That's good. We did the same. But we did something better than just try to escape our own iteration. We have some advice for you, after we toot our own horn, so to speak.

"Mikuru had first prompted the idea that she wished she had classified information that could store information beyond the time-loop. Itsuki brilliantly realized that we did have something like classified information, whatever Mikuru meant, since Yuki can effectively transfer messages beyond our current iteration. I just made up the message, so don't let me from your loop feel too smart for my part in this."

"Past me is really a jerk." Everyone was now smiling again, trying not to laugh. Yuki even smiled a little.

She continued, "First of all, don't ask what we have done in the past. At all. It doesn't help and it's kind of depressing. You probably shouldn't even ask how many different things you have tried. Just make suggestions and Yuki can tell you if it has been done."

"Hearing Yuki talk like you is very disconcerting." Koizumi was smiling blithely, but something in his eyes told me he wasn't joking as much as he usually did. I didn't blame him. I agreed, actually.

Yuki paused, "I can provide you with a direct vocal match, but previous iterations have stated that it is even more unsettling to hear your voice coming from my person." I think Yuki was joking about actually doing this. She couldn't have been joking about it being unsettling. I didn't really want to see voice impressions as done by Yuki.

"No thanks. Please continue." She nodded.

"This will save you a lot of time." She continued, in her cool, controlled tones, "Secondly, stop killing Haruhi. Seriously, it doesn't help. All it creates is this black void thing that only Yuki can remember. She gets in trouble each time Haruhi is killed too, and Yuki has been through enough, don't you think? So stop killing Haruhi, especially Mikuru." Mikuru, at this point jumped in her seat and made a nervous noise, "We know how tough it is. You are not alone though, and you aren't facing oblivion. We'll get out of this and make sure your future happens. So lay off the assassinations."

Mikuru started making apologies, but Yuki continued on.

"Third, remember to be, not just a little, but very spontaneous. We don't know when you will get this message, but, remember, everything you would usually try has probably been done. Multiple times, in different ways. Start thinking outside the box. Do crazy things. Make up stuff like you are trying to challenge Haruhi to new depths of insanity. Our past selves lazily took all the easy stuff. You now have to make up for their predictability."

I shook my head, trying to imagine imagining beyond my normal imagination. It made my head hurt.

"Finally, and most importantly, have fun." Yuki nodded along with this, so it must have been important. "It's been more than a fifteen centuries for us. No telling how long it has been for you. We've all become friends, and I mean that. When we got together here on the last day of our cycle, it wasn't just to make a message for your benefit. It was to be together. I am not going to go into some sort of shtick over "bonds beyond time," or some crap. That's Haruhi's gig. But remember to rely on each other. This goes for you especially, Yuki."

Yuki almost smiled a little at that last part, having finished reading a script I had once come up with. I hate to criticize, but I think I could have done better. Still, as we sat around the table in Yuki's apartment, on the first day of the end of the world, we looked at each other.

Sometimes, I wonder if it is all worth the effort, this Brigade of ours. Then again, I have never felt like I belonged to nearly anything as much as I have belonged here.

Mikuru broke the silence first, "So… what should we do?"

I laid back, staring up at Yuki's ceiling, "Anything we want, I think."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"I think I used to hate you, did you know that?"

"Oh really?"

"Oh yes." He chuckled, in his superior tone that didn't grate quite as much as it used to. His façade was a little more obvious to me now, and his act made his know-it-all attitude was more of a parody of itself. "I was so jealous."

I looked away from the sight of Mikuru and Haruhi sound asleep, adorably leaning against one another in the dark overcast by a beautiful starry night. My face settled on Ituski's, whose face was staring at mine. We were sitting on the opposite side of the balcony, enjoying the night's serenity. Or, at least, I was.

"Of what?" I wasn't quite incredulous, but I was a little surprised. I didn't have anything he didn't. I didn't even have amazing esper powers. Of course, those had the downside of a part-time job that could end the world. But still, its not like I was anything special.

Itsuki chuckled. "It isn't as simple as a single item. You have several things I am jealous of." He fell silent, and I wondered if he would continue. Finally, he started again.

"You have Haruhi Suzumiya's unerring trust and love. Something I will never attain and must watch you squander." He was watching me, as I glanced over at Haruhi, now sincerely incredulous.

"What are you talking about?"

He shook his head, "Don't play stupid with me, Kyon. You are far more perceptive than you let on. You know she likes you. I happen to know she loves you. The way I love her."

I looked back to Itsuki again. "What?"

He smiled, the smug self-confidence revealing actual self-depreciation. He was much easier to read than he was two weeks ago. "She is a beautiful, charming, intelligent, driven girl who knows what she wants in life. When she is happy, the world brightens in return, when she is sad, it darkens in respect. She is the sun, and I am just, and always will be, one of her followers. I can't make it to her level. Do you know how often a head priest or priestess of a religion ascends to godhood to be "with" their beloved god?"

This was all a little heavy for me, so I just numbly shook my head. "Surely someone in Greek Mythology?" Something in me hinted at Cupid, but I was just trying to keep up.

He shook his head. "Only one instance there. Eros and his bride Psyche. And the god fell in love first. No, that isn't really an encouragement to me." He glanced away, "Definitely a better example for you."

We sat in silence for a moment, before he continued, "I'm still jealous, but I realized something recently." He still wasn't looking at my face, just at the ground between us and Haruhi. "I am not the only one who is burned by a deity's love."

Itsuki lost me again, and I asked dumbly, "What?"

He looked up at me, the mock-self-satisfied but actually self-deprecating smile was back, and he shook his head, "I am not the only one blocked in my desires by her love. Unless I have been reading it entirely wrong, anything between you and Yuki has little chance to survive either."

We both glanced at Yuki, who was sitting beside the telescope, cross legged with a laptop in her lap. She had pulled the computer out once Haruhi and Mikuru fell asleep. I wonder when she got it, as I don't remember her pulling it out before.

The glow of the screen washed her face of color, but her expression was extremely clear. Her eyes slid from the laptop to Itsuki. Her eyes portrayed no little amount of reproach. I definitely probably imagined it, but she might have looked hurt too.

I looked back to Itsuki, and said, "That's not funny, Koizumi. Tease me with your weird mind games all you want, but Yuki doesn't deserve your abuse. I have no idea what you are talking about, but you should apologize and mean it."

Itsuki huffed a moment of laughter then stated, "Sorry. I didn't mean to hit a sore spot. I was just trying to explain myself. As much to Yuki as to you. She deserves to know. But I am sorry." For once, he sounded honest.

My eyes went back to our silent hostess, who hesitated a moment, before nodding minutely and looking away. She did not look at me once. I didn't know what that was about. I didn't know if I wanted to know, given the uncomfortable knotting in my stomach.

The silence hung for a while, and I thought Itsuki was done, but he continued. "I was also jealous of your luck."

Now this was an outright joke. If anything, I was the unluckiest mortal in the world.

"Is that so? Then you would actually deny that, up until the end of middle school, you would have given anything to be in the exact situation you are in right now? I did some checking up on you, remember? The organization interviewed some of your old classmates. This is exactly the sort of situation that your younger self craved. Surrounded by weirdness, friends with a time traveler and an alien, pestered by an esper?"

"You are one of my friends too, Itsuki, even if you get on my nerves." He smiled blithely at that, but I could tell it relieved him slightly.

"You have everything in the world you wanted. You have everything in the world Haruhi desires. And for the longest time, I was certain that you wasted it, ignored it and abused that fun and excitement like a-a… well, my analogies fail me now."

He didn't sound angry, still in his conversational tone, but he didn't sound as frustrated as he should have been, given his words. I interjected, "Like Niagara squanders water?"

He considers it, "Yes, perfectly. You squandered everything the world, and Haruhi, gave you."

I didn't nod, but I could kind of see where he was going with this. It's easy to take things for granted when it all feels like a requirement, a chore, or an obligation. What changed Itsuki's mind, I wonder.

"It wasn't quick. It didn't come to me all at once. I think I started to realize when you began gathering us on the first day. You did care. You weren't just along for the ride. Once you stopped treating it all like a burden, I think I saw what you were doing. You have to play Yin to Haruhi's Yang. The Straight Man in a comedy skit. You may not have realized that you were doing it. I didn't. But your snarky reluctances is a grounding force for everyone here. When things became serious enough because Haruhi was stuck in a rut, you stepped in to make things right."

I am not sure I like being part of the feminine aspect of Chinese philosophy, but he sort of had a point with the groundedness I bring. Sometimes I feel like the last sane man on earth.

He laughed, "Maybe you are. So I want to apologize for hating you, Kyon. I want to apologize for nearly doing the unforgivable thing."

He pulled out his cellphone and looked at the screen. I didn't know what he was talking about, but he seemed to be staring at the time.

"I almost tried to murder you, tonight, Kyon." His smile reminded me of a certain classmate, appearing curious and almost regretful. The face that faded into a million particles when Yuki deleted her.

I froze and Yuki looked up with interest.

"The organization positioned a sniper on the building across the way. I told him to fire on you when the clock hits one AM if I didn't give the signal to stand down." His phone flipped open and he began typing something. "I just did that. I am sorry for even being involved with the attempt."

I was rooted to the spot, unable to say anything. Yuki spoke up, startling everyone still awake, "You have attempted to kill him many times, Itsuki. Thank you for standing down. I do not like having to incapacitate you or your employee."

I still didn't move or say anything, but I did ask myself, 'Employee?'. Itsuki laughed, and he sounded like he hated himself for it. "So we didn't even succeed before now? I thought it was a slightly novel way to try and leave the time loop."

Yuki hesitated. "I do not remember any attempts that succeeded. But there is a possibility of an error or absence in my memory, placed there by myself or my… employer."

Itsuki nodded, "Ah. Well, that bodes even more ill for the attempt. Thank you, Yuki. If I composed a short private message to my future selves, would you deliver it? I don't think I want to ever try again."

Yuki nodded, looking almost eager.

None of us said anything for a while. The silence wasn't quite comfortable. I was still processing all of it.

Later that week, I did make a point to text Itsuki that I didn't hold it against him. He had been regretful, and I wasn't dead, and Yuki wasn't malfunctioning. And in another few days, we all wouldn't even remember the conversation. But a sort of peace settled between us. I hoped it continued in the future.


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: Epiloge should come up eventually. Haven't written any yet, so if you have suggestions or thoughts on what you'd like covered, give me a heads up and I will try to oblige. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!_

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One Thousand and Counting

Chapter 11

Itsuki Koizumi was fiddling with the television cables, trying untangle the mess of cables that was made in transport. He sat on the floor while Mikuru Asahina hovered nearby looking like she wanted to comment, but remaining silent, but for the occasional concerned hum.

I sat on the floor, facing Yuki Nagato across her small table. "Are you sure it's okay we crash here for the night, Yuki?"

She watched her teacup as if she was trying to count the molecules within. "Its fine. This has happened twenty three times before." A laptop sat out on the table, but she didn't seem interested in opening it. She didn't seem to be interested in anything.

I put my own cup down and stared at her, "Hey, Yuki." She looked up at me with her cold, blank face. Well, not quite. I don't know if it was just some innate talent, or something I have picked up in the last millennium, but I could sense her acute attention, rather than just her eyes looking in my direction.

I always wondered if I was being too familiar, using Yuki's first name, but maybe it was okay. We were comrades in arms, fighting the proverbial endless war. It wasn't a war of fire and death, but simple attrition. This cycle seemed especially rough on Yuki.

Itsuki and Mikuru were growing weary as the years pressed down upon us as well. I was already beyond tired of this endless loop. There wasn't much we could do that didn't inspire the Deja Vu monster anymore. I literally couldn't see how Yuki managed to continue functioning in this mad world. More and more time was spent in each other's company, and tonight was no different.

But first, I addressed the girl before me, "It's the last day of the universe. I won't get to see you again until tomorrow night when I ask what's bothering you. I don't want to know how many times we've done it before. I want to hear that you like having us over. I don't want to intrude if you want to be alone this last night." I don't quite know what came over me, or why I was acting so familiar with Yuki. Maybe it was the exposure due to time, but more than anything, it seemed strange that it wasn't strange talking to her like this. Maybe I am thinking myself in circles here.

Regardless, Yuki looked actually pleased as she said, "I do not enjoy being alone." She gave me a real smile, which nearly stopped my heart, "I like spending the last day of each iteration in each other's presence."

Recovering quickly, I smiled back encouragingly, happy to see the girl out of her shell. "Good. I do too. I am sure Itsuki and Mikuru feel the same." I spoke up on the last part, looking at the other two.

Mikuru was looking at the smile on Yuki's face like she was seeing a second sun come over Earth's horizon. But she quickly recovered and smiled, nodding fervently. "Um... It's scary being alone in this time plane. Without you all here, I don't know what I would do."

I nodded to her, knowing she had to be terrified of the idea that tomorrow doesn't exist. Itsuki added, "Well said. Before you called and suggested this, I felt like I was staring into the abyss, while it stared back into me, alone at home."

I rolled my eyes at his dramatics, but somehow the annoyance I used to feel for his antics had faded in the past two weeks of forever. "Yeah, well. I just thought it would be better than staying at home alone staring at the clock." They nodded in agreement, Yuki vehemently , understandably.

I finished my tea, and stared at my phone, an idea hitting me. I mulled, then asked, "Hey, would anyone mind if I invited Haruhi? She would probably enjoy the festivities, and it feels almost... weird to do this without her."

Each of them looked at me, then each other. Mikuru shook her head and Itsuki smiled and motioned, saying, "Go ahead." Yuki didn't say anything, but there was a certain sense of agreement from her body language. I was getting to where I could read her like a book. Maybe I should write the translation textbook for those interested in Yuki to Japanese.

I stood up to go to Yuki's balcony as Mikuru finally decided to assert herself as the primary cable wrangler. The role reversal, where Mikuru took charge of something, made me almost laugh. Pulling the phone from my pocket, I stared at my contacts, clicking through until her name showed up. I dialed our captor and friend, hearing the tone ring twice.

I explained to her that we were at Yuki's apartment and that we planned to stay the night, staying up late to play video games and watch movies to defy the end of summer. We'd skip school the next day if we needed to, though Haruhi didn't need to know that wasn't one of our concerns. She yelled at me for starting without her and said she would pack her things.

I hung up and went back inside. Itsuki just finished turning on the television and my old gaming console, smiling, "Looks like we are all ready to start. Is Miss Suzumiya coming?"

I nodded and plopped on the extra pillow I brought over, saying, "Yep. So, what do we want to play before Haruhi takes over?"

Mikuru looked over my selection of used games, picking out the fighting game with a maid and a pirate fighting on the cover, "Um, could we play this one?"

I nodded and Itsuki showed her how to insert the game.

I looked at Yuki to see she was pouring herself more tea, and if my ears weren't broken, humming, very faintly, what I thought was the theme song to the game that hadn't even turned on yet. Remind me not to try to beat the walking computer that has probably played this game a thousand times over, literally.

By the time that Haruhi arrived, we had everything set up. The night had gone well. We played some games for a while. We ate dinner, a glorious delivery meal, and played a couple board games.

Right now, Haruhi and Mikuru were battling to the death again on the television. It was sudden ultra-super sudden death mode, as declared by Haruhi. It turned out that once she got into the swing of it, Mikuru was surprisingly adept at button mashing her way to victory.

Haruhi and her had been trading bouts for the last ten minutes when I noticed Yuki, who had been sitting behind everyone, suddenly walked towards her balcony door. She slid it open, squeezed through and closed it, without a word to anyone. Haruhi and Mikuru were too engrossed in the screen to notice, and Itsuki was taking a quick nap, serenity on his face as he lay discretely next to Haruhi.

I watched Yuki's departure with confusion, until a sudden urge to look at my phone struck me. I stared and then put it down, following the diminutives girl whose home we were invading.

I shut the sliding glass door behind me and approached Yuki from behind. She was standing furthest from the door, in the corner, looking over the city.

I didn't think words were necessary, and came up from behind to stand at her right.

I was prudent enough not to comment on the tears streaming down her face.

Instead, all I did was place my hand over hers resting on the balcony. I didn't do this out of some perverse need like high school love, though the thought did cross my mind. I quashed the inane thought. I couldn't believe I was thinking something like that right now.

Yuki Nagato, of all people, needed a friend more than anything in the world right at this moment. That's what I would be.

I stared up at the sky for the first time in a long time.

"Yuki, what can I do to help?"

Her voice came mechanically, "We are no longer trapped in a repeating time plane. The event that usually precludes the return to the past wasn't completed. We are currently experiencing September first for the first time in- in-in…" Her voice was even, robotic and coldly emotionless for her speech. But something in it cracked and she trailed off. Following her pause came out as something broken, relieved, and utterly, utterly human. "I think I require a moment to process the data."

I didn't even bother doing the math in my head. What was the point? I did it two weeks ago and the numbers don't bear repeating. It would take too long.

While I ruminated, Yuki turned to me and pressed her head into my chest. I embraced her, my arms folding around my friend, who had endured horrors no sentient being should ever deal with. She was doing remarkably well.

From the apartment, there was a shout of victory, and Haruhi declared her prize was Mikuru herself, as loudly as possible. I heard a pitiful and cute scream, but didn't say anything.

Finally, I said, "I am so glad it is over."

Muffled by my shirt, Yuki spoke, "It is not over. Sometime two to six months from now, I will enter an error state and cause unknown catastrophic damage to the world. It is inevitable."

Normally a statement like that would cause my heart to stop, but I just spent centuries worth of shocked in the last five minutes when I saw the date on my phone. It would take a little more than Yuki's warning to faze me yet.

"You don't know a more specific time than that?"

Her head shook against my chest, and she muttered, "My sense of temporal algorithms are no longer calibrated or stable. I just know it is inevitable."

"Yuki, nothing is inevitable. We aren't stuck anymore, and I will do anything I in my power to help you. So will Mikuru and Itsuki. And if it comes to it, I know Haruhi would too."

She pulled away from me, looking up at my face as if searching for deception. I smiled at the small girl, who no longer just pretended to be a human. Her eyes were still shining, but she wasn't crying anymore.

I asked, "Do you want to go inside?"

She shook her head, turning back to stare out over the city, "I need a little more time."

I chuckled, quietly so as to not attract attention. For the first time, I knew for a fact that Yuki was joking. And I knew she wasn't. I put my arm around her, resting on the opposite shoulder, and we watched the city experience the most momentous day its history. A day that would never happen again.


End file.
